Signal boosting: rape culture hasn’t gone away and neither have we

Michael Moore apparently acquitted himself well on Rachel Maddow’s show, without anyone actually mentioning that whole Twitter “frenzy” thing which stopped his rape-apologism bullshit from vanishing into the murky depths of Too Much Patriarchal Fuckwittery.

But as Sady Doyle has kept saying, this isn’t just about Michael Moore repenting, or Keith Olbermann growing up and collecting his toys from the floor around his cot (don’t hold your breath, anyone) or even really about the specific details around the accusations against Julian Assange.

This is about rape culture.

And one media figure managing to finally get it right one time is not anywhere near the end of the story.

“No means no” took us a long way. To put it simply, but not inaccurately, it took us from a world where no meant yes. That is an incredible gain. But “no means no” has taken us as far as it can. Namely, it has taken us to “yes means yes.” It has taken us to a place where we can recognize, create theory, create terminology, and openly discuss the idea that sexual violence and sexual abuse can happen without a “no” as well as with one. We believe that requiring a “no” is not good enough, not a high enough standard. We require a “yes.”

But when I told Keith Olbermann I was being attacked, he asked for proof, and I gave it, and I said I had more proof I could give him, and he still refused to acknowledge it, he still talked about “if.”

THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT RAPE CULTURE CONSISTS OF. THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WE ARE PROTESTING. … I proved the attack, and he said the attack would be bad “if.” “If” it was real. “If” I weren’t just being hysterical and making it up. WHEN KEITH OLBERMANN KNEW IT WAS REAL, Keith Olbermann said “if.”

Rape culture is a gigantic insidious fucking Shoggoth that threatens all women and even men. It’s about discrediting, blaming and automatically disbelieving victims and privileging and excusings attackers and constantly moving the goalposts and always pretending that of course we take rape seriously but this time it obviously isn’t real rape-rape.

This is not over just because Michael Moore has managed to be a decent human being one time. This is not over until we end rape culture.